The Life of an Actress
by StyleMisfit
Summary: Sequel to Of Actresses and the Rich. What happens when Mizu, Hikaru, and Kauru try to take a vacation? Well, we'll say it isn't a normal vacation. In the least. Anyways, this is pretty much just a continuation of the first one. Fun times.
1. Explosions and Imperfections

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 1- Explosions and Imperfections.

*Author's Note: This is a sequel to the story "Of Actresses and the Rich." Evidently, I promised this sequel a while back, as a reader alerted me. I don't remember promising anything of the sort, but hey, you guys are the readers. You're why I get paid. Just kidding, I don't get paid. Damn.

Kyoya's POV

**BAM!**

An explosion shakes the room. The hosts and I take off running down to the chem lab on the first floor. Lucky the club hasn't started yet or this would not be a great thing to be doing. Once we make it there, Hikaru throws open the door and we run into a room full of smoke. As soon as the door opened, smoke started pouring out so we are starting to be able to see who was behind the explosion. When the smoke clears, surprise surprise, there stands Mizuki Wanakano, the most recent member of the host club, with her hair on fire.

Hikaru's POV

"Holy crap!" I yell, grabbing for the fire extinguisher. I take it and turn the spray on her, dousing her with the extinguishing foam.

"Thanks." she says, spitting foam.

"WHAT HAPPENED MIZU?" Tamaki shrieks, running to her and holding her against him.

"I mixed some chemicals and it created an explosion. Which kind of caught some stuff on fire." she explains as I pull her from Tamaki and into my arms. Comforting her is my job.

"Well we need to get you cleaned up and ready for the club. We're getting ready to start. Your costume today is a doll." Kyoya says, motioning to the rest of the hosts and I, dressed as toy soldiers.

"We'll help you get ready." Kauru says, taking her hand and pulling both of us through the smoldering mess and back to the club room.

"Hey, I forgot part of Haruhi's costume in the classroom. You help her Hikaru, I'll go get it." Kauru says, shoving us into the dressing rooms.

"Could he be any more obvious?" Mizu asks, staring up at me with those big green eyes.

"He means well." I say, wrapping my arms around her, "Now, can you get your costume on okay, or do I need to help you with that as well as your makeup and hair." I smirk.

"Why, you dirty pervert. No, I don't need your help. I got it." She says, smirking back at me and pulling away to go change.

"I'm not a pervert! Well, I wasn't before I met you. You make it so difficult." I say, grinning at her.

"Whatever. Will you go ahead and get the makeup and stuff ready please? I don't take that long to change." She says from behind the curtain.

"Oh fine." I grumble, messing among the bottles and tubes on the table.

Mizuki's POV

As I undress I hear the door open and close.

"Kyoya-senpai, Mizu is getting ready. Do you need something?" I hear Hikaru say, shuffling things on the dressing table.

"I want you to stay away from her." I hear Kyoya say.

"This again? She is my girlfriend. She chose me. Get over it." Hikaru growls, rather cruelly I think.

"As I have said before, this situation is not final. I will win her. She will be mine." Kyoya says, a smirk in his voice.

"Hey!" I shout, yanking back the curtain, stepping out in my tights and my slip. I glare at Hikaru as his eyes rove my body and then I spin to face Kyoya, who is also looking me over.

"Stop that. I'm with Hikaru. That's the end. There is nothing you can do, Kyoya." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oh, isn't there?" he asks, smiling evilly.

"No, there isn't." I say firmly, getting right in his face, "You cannot win me, I will not be yours. End of story."

"Fine. I will leave well enough alone. For now." He growls, glaring daggers at Hikaru.

He leaves and I sigh. Hikaru grabs me and breathes heavily into my hair.

"If you don't get dressed right now, I am either going to make out with you for the rest of time, or you are going to give me cardiac arrest." He whispers hoarsely.

"Cardiac arrest? You really said cardiac arrest? Lemme go, I'm going to get dressed." I say, smirking.

He reluctantly slides his arms away from me and I go back into the stall and pull on my Lolita-like dress and my platform Mary-Janes. I walk out and sit at the table. Hikaru starts putting on my makeup while I brush my hair. Once my makeup is done, he starts pulling my hair up into high pigtails and teases them up big. After combing them over a bit, I'm ready. I stand up and he fixes his hat, then we walk out and take out positions, him beside Kauru and me sitting on the arm of Tamaki's armchair. At four on the dot, the doors swing open to reveal squealing girls and boys in awe. Needless to say, the boys are there for me.

"Welcome." We say, smiling at the crowd.

Hikaru's POV

It boils my blood to see her surrounded by those guys. Kauru elbows me and I turn back to the girls in front of us. But my mind is not with them. It wanders back to Mizu, her beautiful ocean colored eyes, her soft, delicate hands, her ironically doll-like body. But then I think of Kyoya, holding her tightly. I slam my hands down on the table and stand up. I spin around and stalk over to Mizu, who's table backed up to Kyoya's.

"Yes, Hikaru?" she asked, puzzled looking.

I yank her up and pull her outside the club room with me. Slamming the door behind me, I turn around and hug her tightly.

"Hikaru, what's going on?" Mizu asks, trying to push away from me.

"Just let me hold you for a minute. It's my job. Please?" I ask, burying my face in her hair.

"Okay." She says, wrapping her arms around me, "okay."

**Sooooooooooooooooo. That was the first chapter. I've never done a sequel before. I always just spark a new idea. But I think I'm doing good. There's no real point to this so far though, so someone please give me some direction. I'm open to criticism and comments, thanks!**


	2. Coffee and Vacation Desires

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 2- Coffee and Vacation Desires

Hikaru's POV

I slowly pull my arms away from Mizuki. She smiles up at me and stands on her toes to look me in the eye.

"You. You need to be able to tell me when you need or want something. That is something we can't repeat. We can twist it like you were mad at me, but that'll only work once." She says, kissing my nose.

"She's right. That was some stunt you pulled." Kyoya says, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry Kyoya, we'll go back in now." Mizu says, taking my hand and pulling me towards the door.

"Hold on, I need to talk to Mizuki." Kyoya says, his hand shooting out and gripping Mizu's arm.

My grip tightens on her hand. She rubs her thumb over my knuckles and pulls away. She motions for me to go back inside. I glare and Kyoya as I close the door behind me. He smirks.

Kyoya's POV

"So what do you need?" Mizuki asks, motioning for me to let her arm go.

I ignore her.

"What did he say to you?" I ask.

"I'm sorry, I don't think that's any of your business. The things we discuss are between us." She says, trying to pull away from me.

I tighten my grip and say, "Mizuki, it's not often that an Ootori loses. We strive for excellence in everything we do, triumph in every competition. So I will win in this situation as well. I will make sure of it."

"This is something you can't control, Kyoya." She says, fidgeting in my grip," It's not a competition if emotions are involved. You won't win this because you CAN'T."

I harshly tighten my grip and she gasps, pawing at my hand. I grab it and pull her towards me.

"Kyoya, let me go. This is not something we need to get in to." She says, looking up at me, worry in her beautiful eyes.

I lean down and kiss her hard. She gasps and tries to push away, clawing at my hands. The door opens but I don't even mind. I hardly notice.

Mizuki's POV

I struggle against his grip, fighting to get free, Suddenly, Kyoya is hurled away from me and I fall, gasping for air. I look up, rubbing my arm, to see Takashi standing over Kyoya darkly.

"Kyoya, no. She's Hikaru's girlfriend. What you did was wrong. Apologize." Takashi says.

"It's okay, Takashi." I say, "Help me up please."

He turns and puts out a hand. I take it and he pulls me up, a little too hard. I hit his chest and he catches me before I fall back down.

"Thanks. You're pretty cool." I say, giving him a quick hug.

I glance at Kyoya before walking back into the club room. I hear Takashi tell him that there's nothing he can do. I disagree. He can cool it a little. A lot.

Hikaru's POV

After the club is over, and everyone has left, I go to the changing rooms to pack up our costumes and makeup supplies. I see Mizu sitting at the dressing table examining something on her arm.

"Hey, what's up? Why're you still here?" I ask.

She jumps, startled, and pulls her hoodie, my hoodie actually, sleeve down over her arm.

"Oh, no reason. Just getting ready to leave. How about you?" she asks.

"Getting the costumes and stuff. What's with your arm?" I ask, taking her hand.

"Oh nothing, I just hit it earlier and it's bruised." She says, moving closer to me.

I pull up her sleeve and gasp, "It looks like somebody grabbed you! It was Kyoya wasn't it? I'll kill him. I can't believe him." I growl, trying to push her away to go find him.

She pulls her hand away and wraps her arms around my neck, stopping me.

"It's okay. He was out of line. But Takashi came and helped me. I think he convinced Kyoya that he was wrong for kissing me." She says

"He KISSED you?" I shout, pulling away sharply.

"Hikaru, please. It's not a big deal. I don't like him, I fought him the entire time. I only want to kiss you, but if it comes down to it, it's not a big thing. I doesn't MEAN anything." She says, sliding her arms back around my neck.

"Really?" I ask, slipping my hands around her waist.

"Really." She says, tilting her face up towards mine.

I lean down and kiss her softly. I can feel her smile.

Mizuki's POV

"Hikaruuuuuu. Come on. It's a great idea." I say.

"No it isn't." he says, his voice warbled through the phone, "If we're in a place no one knows us, Kyoya could do anything and no one would think anything. At least here, most people know you're my girlfriend."

"No they don't. We're keeping it secret from everyone but the hosts. Duh. But I didn't mean everyone. I meant me, you, and Kauru. We've been talking about it for a while. We should just go up and try not to freeze, and have fun on our own. Come on, I'll even drive." I say, trying as hard as I can to get him to go along with it.

"We have limos, babe. You know that, right?" he warbles.

"I do. I just think my car is more fun to travel in. And did you just call me babe?" I ask, snickering,

"Oh yeah I did. I like it, I'm gonna started saying it … babe." He scratches.

I laugh, "Okay, I'll allow that if we can go to the beach. Please?" I say sweetly.

"Don't do that." He warbles.

"What? I'm just using all of my resources. I really want to go to the beach." I say.

"Okay." He sighs.

"YES!" Kauru and I shout.

"Is that Kauru? Where are you?" he asks, scratchy.

I giggle, "We've been out on the balcony drinking coffee the whole time."

The French doors swing open and Hikaru just stares at us. We burst out laughing and I walk over to him.

"You're crazy. I'm sorry, though. I probably shouldn't have argued over it so much." I say, placing my hands lightly on his chest.

"If you would have been with me, I would have said yes way quicker. I can't resist that face, babe." He says, smirking, "And I guess you can drive."

"Yay! Thanks so much!" she says, kissing me lightly and hugging me.

I hug her back and notice Kauru get up and go inside. Suddenly, soft music wafts from the room and I slowly start to dance with her. We dance until the sun completely fades out.

**If you haven't noticed, I like sending my characters to the beach. Because I like the beach. Who doesn't?**


	3. Pleas and Popularity

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 3- Pleas and Popularity

Mizuki's POV

"Come on Tamaki. Just don't tell him." I say, fiddling with my coffee mug.

"I can't hide anything from Mommy. He always knows." Tamaki says, picking up a pastry and tearing off a piece.

We're sitting in a small "commoner" coffee shop on a big fluffy couch by the windows. It's my favorite spot. I come here to read, go over lines, and just to daydream. It's my place. And now I've let Tamaki infiltrate it.

"Please Tama? There is nothing I would love more than to have this. Just a few days out without having to worry about fighting or anything like that." I say, taking a sip of my drink and looking up at him, pleading.

That's the good thing about being an actress. Manipulation is easy.

"Come on… daddy." I say, making my eyes, big and innocent.

"Of course! You are so adorable!" he says, smiling at me.

"Whoa, you didn't attack me. What's up with that?" I ask, smirking at him and snuggling down into the pillows.

"You're Hikaru's now. I don't feel right hugging on another man's woman. It's not a good thing to do." He says, picking up his coffee mug.

"I don't mind you hugging me. Just don't fall for me, 'kay? I've got enough trouble with that these days. Good Lord it's cold in here." I say, wrapping my arms around myself.

As if on cue, Hikaru walked in the shop, looking around. He noticed me and Tamaki and walked over, after ordering a cup of coffee.

"Hey. Did he say yes?" he asks, standing by the couch, waiting for them to call his name.

"Hikaru! Make me warm!" I say, jumping up and into his arms.

"It is cold in here isn't it. It probably doesn't help that you're wearing shorts though." He says, smirking at me.

"It is eighty degrees outside. I'm wearing a hoodie!" I say, pouting.

"Yeah, my hoodie. Is that all you ever wear?" he asks, sitting down, pulling me down onto his lap.

"Yeah. It smells like your cologne. You smell good." I say, grinning at him and reaching across Tamaki for a pastry.

"You guys are so sweet." Tamaki says, standing up, "I guess I'll take off. I won't tell Kyoya. But I can't promise he won't find out where you are on his own."

"I know. But I have a plan. Thanks so much Tamaki." I say, standing up myself and throwing my arms around him, "You're the greatest."

"I know." He says, hugging me back, then lightly pushing me back into Hikaru's lap.

He leaves the shop, then I scoot off of Hikaru's lap to beside him, where I lean on his shoulder.

"You hug on the rest of the guys too much." Hikaru says, throwing his arm over my shoulder and poking my stomach.

"Hey, I can handle your thing with Kyoya kissing me. But I will hug my boys. There's nothing you can do about that." I say, grabbing his hand and rubbing my thumb over his knuckles.

"You're adorable. Anyways, what's your plan?" he asks.

"We're doing this vacation my way. I'm driving us up, we're going to stay in a hotel, a nice one, and we're all going to stay in one room." I say, mumbling the last part.

"What was that?" Hikaru asks.

"I only booked one room. We're all staying in one room. I'm sorry, it's a little awkward but I feel safer that way. Kyoya has power, and he's obviously willing to do just about anything." I say, fiddling with his fingers.

"It's okay. I was a little worried about it too. It'll be more fun that way too. As long as you don't hog the bathroom. I take long showers." He says.

"Lucky you, I don't. I can get ready in about 20 minutes. At the most." I say, laughing at him.

"This is going to be so exciting. Kauru is pretty psyched too." He says.

"I'm so glad. He better not pull anything last minute though." I say.

"He probably will." Hikaru says, "He probably will."

Hikaru's POV

The next day, Kauru and I stand outside with our bags. We packed them ourselves, so the staff could truthfully say, if asked, they had no idea where we were. Suddenly, a bright blue convertible pulls around the corner, bumbling along to dance music. The little car pulls up to our driveway and the window rolls down, a cloud of Mizu's perfume rolls out and hits us head on.

"Hey, sorry. That happens a lot." She says, watching as we fan it away, "I put on my perfume in the car most days, so it just builds up."

I observe the car to be around a 2000 model, from the shape it's in, painted the color Mizu wanted, pinstriped with purple. There were beads handing from the rearview mirror and bumper stickers all over it, including some flowers on the doors.

"I was not expecting a hippie car. I was just expecting a squatty little Toyota." Kauru says, going around throwing the bags in the trunk and then getting in the back seat.

"Most people don't. But I'm a gypsy at heart. Come on, and we'll get going." She says, grinning at me and patting the steering wheel to the beat of whatever song was playing.

"Cool music. Who is this?" I say as I climb in the passenger seat.

"Family Force 5. The song is 'Wake the Dead.'" She says, pressing a button on the dashboard, making the top go down.

She also rolls down all the windows, then turns the music down a little, and rolls out.

"What kind of music do ya'll like? I have a very extensive cd collection in the box in the backseat." She says, putting on her sunglasses.

"Whoa, you have the Killers? And the Afters?" Kauru asks, amazed.

"Yeah, pick one and hand it up." She says, ejecting the Family Force 5 cd.

Kauru passes up the Afters cd and Mizu puts it in, waiting until the song starts then turning the volume way up. She turns onto the freeway and speeds up. I watch her in amazement. I never knew she could drive. Hell, Kauru and I can't, and we've surely been more privileged. Of course, we've never had a need to learn. Then I notice she's going a little over the speed limit.

"Hey Mizu!" I shout over the music, "Slow down a little, you just passed a cop!"

Too late, the cop is already pulling out. Mizu mutters something under her breath and pulls over, turning the music down. The cop pulls up behind us, and the man gets out, walking up to the car.

"You were going a little fast there, about ten over." He says, examining each of our faces, "Ma'am can you take off your glasses, we're out looking for some people and I want to make sure it's not you."

Mizu takes off her glasses and stares up at the man. He looks at her a minute, puzzled.

"Say, you aren't Mizuki Wanakano are you? You are! And that means you must be the Hiitachin boys! I saw you guys in "Of Actresses and the Rich" last month! Oh man, how cool. Can I have your autograph Mizuki?" he asks, pulling out a notepad.

"Sure! I'm glad you liked the play." She says, pulling a pen from the glove compartment, providing me a glimpse of something black and lacy.

She signs his book and he waives her on, on a "celebrity's pardon" he joked. But only after he warns her that there are reporters looking everywhere for her and to be careful. She pulls back onto the highway and reaches to turn the volume back up.

"Before you do that," I say, reaching and grabbing her hand, "I kind of want to know why you have a set of undergarments in the glove box."

A blush spreads across her face and she says, "Oh you saw that? Sorry. I like to have spares around. Once you get pelted with water balloons about three times, you start carrying extra stuff."

"If those are your spares, I kind of wonder what your normal stuff looks like." I say, grinning at her.

"The same." She says bluntly, glancing back at Kauru who was making gagging noises.

"Oh grow up, man." She says, smiling.

She shakes out of my grip and cranks up the music.

**Well I had to hurry the last part of this because I had to go get my turn signals fixed after the wreck. Yeah, the wreck I never told ya'll about. But anyways, as soon as I got in my car, I tested them. And they worked. But I drove up there anyways and then they told me there was nothing they could do if it was working because they couldn't find the problem. So my whole day has been like ARGH. But anyways. Here's the chapter!**


	4. Arrival and Nostalgia

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 4- Arrivals and Nostalgia

Hikaru's POV

"So what was he talking about, reporters?" I ask as the song "Myspace Girl" by the Afters ends and goes into fuzz as the cd cuts off.

Kauru hands up the Killers cd and Mizu puts it in. "Human" blasts out.

"Oh, just since that news article about us, I've been being followed by reporters everywhere. No biggie. After I was in Wicked, my popularity kind of shot up. I have reporters following me all the time. It just got a little more now that they know about us. But I had the article stripped of all the media so no one from school would find out." She said, putting her sunglasses back on.

"Whoa, you're like famous Mizu!" Kauru says.

"No shit, Sherlock." She says, "I'm also famous on the internet. I write Fan Fiction and I do my fashion blog, you know. So I'm used to publicity. Oh, here we are."

She pulls in to the parking lot of a hotel named The Palace. Big and fancy was right; she wasted no resources getting us the best. She swings into a parking space and puts the top and the windows up. We jump out and grab out bags from the trunk. Suddenly, a member of the staff shows up and grabs all of our bags. We follow him in and up to the front desk.

"Hi, I had a reservation for a room under the name Indigo Moon." Mizu says, flashing the man a smile.

"Oh yes, here it is. Are you sure you only reserved one room?" the man asks, eyeing Kauru and I.

"Oh yeah. One's it, is this the key?" she asks, sliding the keycard over from the other side of the counter.

"Yes ma'am. Room 1276, on the West side. Ocean front room, as per request. Shito will show you to it." The man said, motioning to the boy with our bags.

We follow him into the elevator and he presses the twelfth floor button.

"Thanks Shi. This means a lot that you'll keep it secret we're here." Mizu says, throwing an arm around him.

"That's okay Mizu. I wouldn't do anything less for Shiori's da-" he starts, cut off by Mizu slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Sorry, I thought I saw a fly." She says, shooting him a look.

I bookmark the piece of information in my mind, and step from the elevator, grabbing Mizu's hand. She shakes it off and instead jumps on my back. I laugh and shake my head. Shito leads us to the room and unlocks it.

"Whoa! Look at the ocean!" Mizu exclaims, pointing at the huge window.

"It's beautiful." I say, putting her down on the couch.

Shito puts our bags down and leaves.

"Keep your heads down for a minute. There's something I have to do." She says, taking a roll of circular stickers out of her jacket pocket.

She stalks around the suite quietly, head down, and places a sticker over all of the security cameras. Then she goes into the kitchenette area and fiddles with something under the counter. Sparks fly and a whine emanates from the area, but soon cuts. She motions for us to stay as she climbs up on the counter and disables the white noise machine on the ceiling.

"You can never be too careful. Someone knew we'd be in this room. The cameras were not regulation hotel cameras, I noticed immediately. I'll pull out the wiring later. Plus, no hotel puts cameras in the rooms, only the halls and the lobby. Since I saw that, I figured something must be up. So I looked, and there was a listening device under the counter, that was the sparks. It was tiny, so I just dug my finger into the speaker to kill it. The white noise machine may have just been that, but they can be rewired for listening use. I haven't checked the bathroom yet, but no one puts listening devices in there because nobody wants to listen in on anyone peeing. Any questions?" she asks.

"One. How the hell do you know all this?" I ask.

"Research for a movie I was going to be in. The production company went bankrupt, so it never went any further than editing. I kept the knowledge." She explains, "And the companies discount card. Since it was a spy movie, I could only purchase spy-like stuff without anyone getting suspicious. I bought all I needed then shredded the card. If I do say so myself, I'm quite good with the equipment."

"Another question," Kauru says, "Why did you buy the equipment?"

"Just in case. You can never be too careful." She says, grinning.

She digs through her bag and comes out with a blue bikini.

"Ya'll grab your trunks, we're going to the beach!" she says, running into the bathroom and shutting the door. We "grab our trunks" as she says, and change. When we come out from the room, she's sitting on the couch, tying her hair up on top of her head. She stands up, grabs the key and her beach blanket, and walks out the door, barefoot. Sighing, we follow her down to the boardwalk.

"Oh man, I should have brought my surfboard. Those waves are killer." She says, running to the end and jumping into the sand.

She sets up the blanket and Kauru sits down and pulls out a book he brought down.

"Go ahead. Haruhi and I are reading this together and she's way ahead of me." He explains, waving us on.

We run down to the waves, laughing and slipping through the sand.

"So, Mizu. Who's Shiori?" I ask.

"My mother. She was a world famous writer, actress, and musician. I've covered her up so nobody associates me with her, clouding her name with mine. I want to make my own name you know?" she asks, sitting down and watching the waves wash over her feet.

"So why did you stop Shito from saying her name if you were just going to tell me outright?" I ask.

"There was a camera in the elevator. Can't be too careful." She says, smiling softly at me.

I look into her bright, ocean colored eyes. She winks at me and splashes me. I smirk at her and jump on her, rolling over onto my back, her on top of me. She laughs and hugs me. I hug her back and look up at the sky. We lay that way for a while, just soaking in the sun.

Mizuki's POV

I'm getting ready for dinner. We're going to one of my favorite places, Michelangelo's Pizza. I slip on my white sundress and look in the mirror thoughtfully.

"I look so much like mama…" I think, pushing my hair behind my ear.

I miss her so much.

**Well this has been a depressing end to a chapter. Damn. But the rest of the trip will be fun and event filled. Trust me.**


	5. Ice Cream and CovOps

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 4- Ice Cream and CovOps

Hikaru's POV

"Just try it!" Mizu says, sliding something across my lower lip.

I am sitting blindfolded in the sand, listening to Kauru laugh at me.

"Come on." She says, leaning closer to me, "You may get a reward if you try it." She whispers.

I open my mouth so she can feed me whatever it is. Ice cream. Delicious ice cream. Weird ice cream. I pull off the blindfold to reveal a bowl of little white balls.

"What is this?" I ask, looking at her, puzzled.

"Dippin' Dots!" She exclaims, grinning at me, "Little balls of ice cream!"

"I like it! But what's my reward?" I ask mischievously, letting my eyes rove her bikini-clad body.

"We'll see." She says, putting down the ice cream and laying across my lap.

"You guys are so cute together." Kauru says, watching as I draw designs on Mizu's stomach with my finger.

"Here" He says, pulling out two brown Sharpies and handing me one.

"That okay, Mizu?" I ask

"Go ahead. Just don't draw anything weird. And not on my face, 'kay?" she says, smiling.

I move her off of my lap and we start drawing designs. Kauru draws on her legs and arms, and I cover her chest, stomach, and shoulders. After we draw on her sides, she flips over and I draw on her back and Kauru again gets her arms and legs. She sits up and I finish by drawing on her hands.

"Whoa, this looks like henna. How cool huh?" she says, looking up over the water.

"Hey!" she says, scrambling up and pointing at the sky, "The sun's setting!"

We all stand and watch the sun go down over the water. Once it gets dark, we go back in the hotel through the lobby. I look to the side to see Mizu, staring at something, grab my hand. She starts walking faster and ducks her head, covering her face with her hair. She pulls me into the hallway and pulls me close to her. She leans up and presses her lips to mine, grabbing Kauru's arm and throwing him in the custodian's closet, beside us. I sense someone walk past and then hear a door close down the hall. I feel Mizu's eyelashes brush past, her opening her eyes, and then she pulls away.

"What was that?" I ask.

"Did you hear that door close? It was a man. He was examining every girl's face that was coming through that door. He was obviously looking for somebody," she says as Kauru climbs out of the closet, "It may not have been me, but I'm taking no chances. We have to get out of here."

She takes off running, expecting us to follow, we do. We pass the elevators and crash into the stairwell. As we run up the first flight, I hear the door burst open behind us. Mizu looks down and quickly yanks her head back up. A bullet dings the wall beside of us.

Mizu's POV

"Damn." I say through gritted teeth, gunning to get up the stairs.

We burst through the third floor door and I slam it shut, barricading it with a chair and locking it. We run to our room and I shut the door quietly, after wiping off the handle and lock.

"I had to get rid of the fingerprints unless he scans it. Okay, this is obviously not Kyoya's doing. We need to go. Grab your backpacks and dress in the darkest clothes you can. Then come out here. I'll be wiping the place for fingerprints." I says, watching them stand there, "GO."

They rush off, and I quickly pull on some black cargo pants and a black t-shirt of Hikaru's. I pull on my utility belt and my black toboggan. I shove my hair into the toboggan, pack my bag up, pull on my best black grippy gloves, pull out two harnesses, and take out a clean handkerchief. I walk around the suite wiping off all of our fingerprints. I wipe down every surface and fix up two red carabineers with ropes. I tie the ends of the ropes to a different set of silver carabineers. The boys come in wearing black jeans and t-shirts. I pass them toboggans and gloves, and help them pull on the harnesses. I take them out onto the balcony and hook the red carabineers to the base or the bars on the railing. I bring the ropes up on the outside of the rail and hook them to the boys' harnesses. Testing them quickly, I tell the guys to stand on the outside of the rail.

"You have to jump. Wait for me at the bottom. Don't argue with me. The ropes will catch you." I say, looking behind me.

I hear footsteps.

"GO NOW. YOU HAVE TO GO." I say.

They jump and I watch them get closer and closer to the ground until they stop about two feet from the ground. I hear bullet hitting metal behind me. He's trying to shoot off the lock. I quickly shut the glass door behind me, wipe off the railing, then jump.

Hikaru's POV

Oh my God, what is happening? I we unhook the carabineers from our waists and slide off the harnesses. I look up to see Mizu in free fall. I gasp and am about to scream, but Kauru slaps a hand over my mouth. I look back up to see her pull two things out of her tool belt. She fiddles with something and suddenly, the red carabineers go flying past her, hitting the sidewalk in front of us. We quickly gather everything up and look back up to see what she'll do. She flips so her back is facing down and points something at the balconies. She shoots, and a grappling hook cuts through the air and wraps around the seventh floor railing. Still in free fall for a minute, she flips back and gives us an okay sign. Suddenly, about second floor height, the grappling cord snaps her back solidly. She presses a button on the gun part, and the hook retracts. She puts the gun away and flips to her back again. She hits the ground hard.

"Mizu!" I exclaim, running over to her.

She jumps up and says, "Go, go, go!"

She takes off running, like nothing happened, around the building. We run to her car and she pulls out a remote and presses a button. Suddenly, the panels of her car pop out and flip mechanically, turning white. We jump in the car and she pulls off her hat, belt, shirt and pants. She yanks off her gloves and kicks off her shoes. She pushes them under the seat and pulls out a pair of blue jean shorts and yanks them on. We do the same, taking off our covert costumes and sitting in our swim trunks. Once we're done, we simply look like a bunch of teenagers pulling doing donuts in the empty parking lot, which is what she started doing. We peeled out and pulled onto the main road. She drove to a beachy beauty salon and parked. We followed her in and waited as she made an appointment for all of us.

"What. The. Hell." I say, looking at her expectantly, as we sit on the squishy couches in the waiting room.

"Tell you later." She says, "After you go blonde."

**All my stories lately have been reverting to this. This sequel is definitely going to be longer than the first story.**


	6. Dyeing and Gypsy Memories

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 6- Dyeing and Gypsy Memories

Hikaru's POV

We're pulling into a tailor park and I can't stop staring at Mizu. Her newly dyed and flat-permed hair lies around her arms. With the new black hair, she looks mystical, mysterious. I glance at a now brunette Kauru and at myself, a blonde. We look so different. Especially Mizu. The relaxing treatment made her hair so long. As we bumble along, her car now grey and dusty looking, I look out at the people watching us. They look so poor. We pull in to a leaning carport and jump out. Mizu yanks a big tarp made of sewn together pieces of cloth over the car and walks towards a giant ocean blue teepee. We jog to catch up, and walk beside her.

She yanks the flaps back and says, "Mama Ella, am venit! Am nevoie de ajutorul tău!"

"What was that?" I ask, confused, as a big woman stands up and turns to look at Mizuki.

"Romanian. Mama Ella doesn't speak English or Japanese. I said I have come and I need her help." Mizu explains as the woman puts a hand over her mouth in surprise, tears prickling her eyes.

"Frumos! Dumnezeul meu, este cu adevarat? Ce ai făcut pentru tine? Cine sunt aceşti băieţi?" Mama Ella asks, rushing over to embrace Mizu, but keeping an eye on Kauru and I.

"Guys, she asked if it was really me, what I had done to myself, and who you were." Mizu says, turning back to the woman who was looking at her expectantly.

"Sit first." Mizu says, motioning for us to come in and for us all to sit down.

"Mama, acest lucru este Hikaru, prietenul meu, şi Kauru fratele său. Am fost în vacanţă la plajă atunci când un om a venit după noi, fotografiere la noi. Am avut de a scăpa. Am nevoie de ajutorul tau ascuns ne. Asiguraţi-ne arata ca ţigani, aşa cum am folosit pentru a fi." Mizu says to Mama Ella, whose eyes grow wider with every word.

"I said, Mama, this is Hikaru, my boyfriend, and his brother Kauru. We were on vacation at the beach when a man came after us, shooting at us. We had to escape. I need your help hiding us. Make us look like gypsies, as I used to be." Mizu translates, following the woman, who had stood up, out of the teepee.

We followed them into another teepee, this one green, to find a man.

"Uncle Ellis! How are you?" Mizu asks, hugging him.

"Frumos! It's been so long! What's going on?" he asks, seeing the Mama Ella's worried look.

As she talks to the Uncle Ellis, Mizu turns back to us.

"This is one of my many homes over the years. These are good people. I'm going to leave you two with Uncle Ellis, and he'll help you to look like gypsies, disguises. I'm going with Mama Ella. But don't worry, Uncle Ellis speaks great English. This is a bad situation, and we need to be hidden as quickly as possible. Listen to him, do what he does. Got me?" she asks, her eyes pleading with us not to argue.

"Alright Mizu. You're right, this is awful. But at least you're safe." I say, taking her in my arms.

She slides her arms up around my neck, smirking mischievously, for the first time today. I smirk back and grip her closer, pressing my lips to hers. She quickly kisses me back, hard.

Pulling away, she says, hoarsely, "You will stay alive and safe. I will make sure of it."

She then follows Mama Ella out of the teepee and leaves us with Uncle Ellis.

Mizuki's POV

Oh man. I missed Mama Ella so much. She's always been there for me. She's my foundation. She's always been supportive, even when I left after dad left. She knew I'd have to live on my own, until I met someone, Souko, to take me in. That I'd have to be strong, because I couldn't just give up and come home. She wouldn't let me. She told me that if that was what I wanted, to leave and work on my acting career, then I couldn't come home until I got what I wanted. Until, I made it. Because after mom died, she raised me to be strong. Thinking about it, I tear up. For the first time since I left, I start crying. I sit in Mama's teepee bawling, waiting for her to come back with mom's old clothes and jewelry. I hear the tent flap push back, and then feel strong arms wind around my waist.

"Mizu, what's wrong?" he asks, sliding me into his lap.

I turn to the side and wrap my arms around his neck.

"There are so many memories here. Of Mama Ella, and of my real mama. My dad was a huge dirtbag, and left after my mom died and stopped bringing in all the money that she did. I miss this place so much. Dancing for crowds, cooking with Auntie Lina, and listening to stories about our Romanian history. This is how I've always been, always looked. Mama was surprised about my hair being straight, not black. Black is my natural color, and my hair is naturally wavy. Being back here has made me realize that I've not been strong enough. When I think it's safe to go back, I'm facing Kyoya. If we encounter anything like what happened today again, I'm facing them. I won't have anyone thinking I'm less than." I say, sniffing.

"I don't think you're less than. I think you've been strong long enough. You need to let it go sometimes. Just let your guard down sometimes." He says, stroking my hair, which is down to my waist now.

"Hikaru, you don't understand. If I let my guard down, all hell will break loose. I have to be strong enough to keep it bottled up to protect you, all of you, from my past." I say.

"We can handle some of the burden for you. You just have to tell us." He says, tilting my head back and kissing my forehead.

"Thanks Hikaru. I needed that." I say, wiping my eyes.

"I love you, babe." He says, smiling at me.

A red hot blush spreads across my face and I stutter out, "I-I love you too." 

He grins and kisses my forehead again. I hear the tent flap open and hear Mama Ella's scream.

"Ce faci imbracat asa de stabilire peste tot acest băiat! Nu sunt o fata de-al meu va fi ca asta! Haide, sus. Te îmbraci. Spune-i să duc să vorbesc cu Lina. Ajutor bucătar ei." She says, pulling me up by my arm and pushing Hikaru out with her foot.

Laughing, I say, "She says to tell you to go fine Auntie Lina and help cook. She's in the tie-dye tent."

As he leaves the teepee, I stare after him, smiling. I really do love him. He makes me so happy.

**Okay. So we're putting in two more of my favorite elements. Gypsies and languages. Romanian is a special one to me. I'm part Romanian, part gypsy. How cool huh?**


	7. Belly Dancing and Surprises

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 7- Belly Dancing and Surprises

Hikaru's POV

These people are hilarious. It appears that Mama Ella is the only one who hasn't made an effort to learn English. Which may be a good thing, because with the language barrier, she's settled for only glaring at me after what happened in the teepee. As I'm looking at Mama, I see an adorned hand poke out form the teepee flap. Mama Ella hushes everyone and announces something in Romanian.

"She says that Frumos has finally come home." Uncle Ellis translates.

The teepee flaps fly open, and suddenly, out dances Mizu. She's dressed in a skirt made of different kinds of blue fabrics with coins sewn into it, a white coin wrap around her hips, and a something white appearing to be a bra with coins sewn onto it. Her feet bare, her ankles are covered with bracelets, as are her arms. Her fingers are covered with rings, and on her tan stomach, still covered with brown Sharpie drawings, was a thin gold chain. She dances over to where everyone is sitting, an odd kind of dance. Her hips are swinging, her upper body kept still. She dances over to Kauru and I, grinning and ends her dance by sitting down next to us. Everyone claps, and Mizu smiles as I've never seen her. I lean over and kiss her on the cheek. She smiles at me.

"Hey, look, the sun's rising." She whispers, pointing beside me.

I look to see the sun coming up, realizing we've been awake all night. As if on cue, Mizu and I both yawn. She stands up and walks over towards an old rundown shed. I stand and follow her, looking in the now open shed. I see Mizu pulling out a large blue teepee tarp, and poles. I help her carry them to an open spot and we set the teepee up. I then follow Mizu to another shed, where we pull out a lot of blankets. Going back to the teepee, we lay out the blankets on the ground, covering the grass and making about a half foot cushion. We go and get all of our stuff, including our covert costumes, and Mizu shows me how to loop and hook things up and out of the way. I go back to the circle for a while, while Mizu changes back into normal clothes from her belly dancing, as she called it, costume. When she comes back, she still has on the blue skirt but she has put on a blue corset style bodice.

"We're going to bed." She announces, "We've been up all night."

I stand up and Kauru starts to, but Uncle Ellis stops him, telling him Kauru can sleep in his teepee. Mizu and I walk back to our newly set up teepee. Going in, Mizu drops to the ground and sighs happily.

"Oh how I missed sleeping in a teepee." She says, looking up at me and smirking.

I drop down beside her and she scoots over, her head on my chest.

"I'm glad you're here too. Even if we are in great danger." She says, tilting her head up and kissing me softly.

"I'm glad too." I say, stroking her hair.

Mizu's POV

"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE" is the sound we wake up to, the next morning.

"Mama Ella! Mama Ella! It's okay! What's wrong?" I ask in Romanian, jumping up.

"You sleep with this boy! No good! This is not a modest thing! Now you sleep in my teepee, with me." She rants, shouting and glaring at Hikaru, who was just waking up.

"No, Mama Ella. I can handle myself. Hikaru would not do anything like what you are thinking. And even if he tried, you KNOW I can protect myself. You know, mama." I say, grabbing her shoulders, trying to make her see.

"I know. You are just my little girl! I want to keep you safe." She says.

"You want to keep me safe? Make sure no one comes here, asking for me. Guard us from the outside." I say, slowly and seriously.

"Oh, um, alright." She says, avoiding my eyes.

"What do they look like?" I ask sharply, Hikaru looking up at the tone of my voice.

"A tall boy, around your age, with glasses and black hair." Mama says, looking at the ground.

I quickly let go of her and turn to Hikaru. I sink to the ground in front of him.

"He found us. Dammit. This trip has already been destroyed by the men sent after us, now KYOYA is here? Great. You stay beside me Hikaru. I don't trust him." I say in English.

"He is our friend Mizu, this is just a bad situation. You shouldn't be scared of him." He says, taking my hands.

"I'm not. I just don't trust him. He could snap. Mr. Calm and Cool did get into a fight with you after our play." I say, standing and pulling him up with me.

"I know, but we'll figure it out. He could be able to help us." He says, holding the flap back for me and Mama.

"Maybe." I say uncomfortably, watching as Mama walks in the other direction.

Hikaru's POV

She really doesn't seem to trust him. I slide an arm over her shoulders and pull her closer to me. We walk towards the fire circle, where people are bustling around, lunch time, and staring at Kyoya. Uncle Ellis is standing by him, arms crossed, glaring at him. Kyoya looks uncomfortable. As we walk closer, his eyes harden, and he stands up.

"Hello. You did a great job, disappearing without a trace. But when we went to check your house, Mizuki, there was a photograph on your mantle of two people sitting in this circle right here. So I found you." He says, smiling evilly.

"So you didn't know where we were before? That wasn't you? No, never mind. They had guns. You wouldn't want to shoot us, just get us back." Mizu says, thoughtfully, "So who could it be?"

"People have been SHOOTING at you?" Kyoya asks, grabbing her shoulders.

She shakes his hands off and puts her hand on her hip.

"Yeah. Mama took away my gun, so I don't have ANY protection now." She says loudly.

Suddenly, I feel a presence behind me. I know enough not to turn around. Mizu quickly pulls what appears to be a dagger out of her belt. She spins around and thrusts her knife at the man. Their knifes klang together. The man glances at me, standing beside her, and Mizu throws her leg out, knocking me back and to the ground. The man takes the chance to pull out of the deadlock and take a swipe at her. Blood splatters on her blue bodice. Suddenly, another knife thrusts through the man's back and he slumps to the ground. Uncle Ellis is standing behind him. Mizu gasps and puts her dagger away.

"I heard knifes clashing. I knew it was you. You were right Mizu. You aren't safe." Ellis says coldly, staring down at the man.

"Nice work. Now who does he work for?" Kyoya asks, staring coldly at the man lying on the ground, dead, bleeding.

"I don't care." Mizu says, her voice wobbling, cheek bleeding.

She spins around and buries her face into my chest, crying hard. I wrap my arms around her and rock her.

"Get someone out here to get him. Get him away from her. Find out who he works for. I want them dead." I say, staring straight into Kyoya's eyes.

He nods and pulls out his cell phone. I hold Mizu, stroking her hair, for a while.

**Well. Fun times huh?**


	8. Discoveries and Disguises

The Life of an Actress

Chapter 8- Discoveries and Disguises

Hikaru's POV

We sit on the back of her car, I with my arm around her. She's still sniffling a little.

"Wh-who would want to kill me?" she asks, holding a torn piece of cloth to her cheek.

"I don't know, Mizu. Kyoya is working on it. Maybe a better question is WHY someone would want to kill you?" I ask, slowly.

"Um. I don't know. I don't have any information anyone would want. I'm not someone important. I don't have any money since mama died." She says, and then stops.

"Didn't you say your dad left because there was no money coming in because of your mother's death? Maybe she left you money and you just don't know about it. Maybe your dad found out about it and, if he's as evil as it sounds like, he wants it. At any cost." I say, realizing that probably wasn't the best thing to say.

"That's it! That has to be it! There is no other reasonable explanation." She says, jumping up.

Kyoya walks up to us and says, "Move that. I want to look at that cut."

She slides the cloth away to reveal a three inch wide gash.

"It looks pretty bad. It'll scar, but it looks like its already closing. It probably won't get infected. You did good keeping pressure on it. But anyways, I have news." He says, turning towards me and helping Mizu back up on the car.

"Yes?" I ask, watching his hands as he slowly pulls them away from her waist.

"The man had a cell phone on him. His last call was to a man named Rău Ireal. Anyone you know Mizuki?"

"Damn. We were right. That's him. That's my father." She breathes.

"But your name is Mizuki Wanakano. That's completely different." I say.

"My real name is Nicoleta Ireal. It means, surreal victor of the people. I changed it so no one would give me any trouble." She explains.

"So why do you think he's trying to kill you?" Kyoya asks, amused, "From what I can tell, you're just a lying gypsy girl. I thought you had pedigree."

I jump off the car, my temper at its height.

"No!" Mizu, Nicoleta, says, jumping in front of me and holding me back, "We have enough trouble right now without you two getting into it. Kyoya, I don't care what you think of me. Your opinion isn't important to me, or the situation. Now, what are we going to do about my dad?"

"Well, you two need to go into hiding. I'll take Kauru home with me, you two need to run. Go somewhere your father wouldn't know about, Nicoleta. Hikaru will need somewhat more of a disguise. You already look like the dirty gypsy you are." He ridicules.

"Okay. You're pushing it now. What does Hikaru need to do?" she asks, her hands twitching.

"He needs to look like all the people here. No one will ever recognize him looking like THAT." Kyoya says.

Suddenly, she draws her knife and holds in to his throat in one swift movement.

"You can insult me all you want, call me whatever. Call me dirty, lying, poor, low class, anything. I'll take it, because I don't care. But when you insult my family, even if they aren't blood, I will get mad. These are good people here. And YOU of all people have no right to insult them." She growls, pulling the knife back, "Judgmental scum."

She stalks away, towards the teepees. I glare at Kyoya and follow Nicoleta. She's right. He is judgmental scum.

Kyoya's POV

Maybe I went a little too far. It just makes me mad to know that there are things that I can't find out. She's a wretched little gypsy, and I still love her. But it's now evident that I can't have her. Because no one would ever approve of the dirty street rat. She makes me sick. I want her so bad, but she has to be this low. Pity. She's beautiful. She's great. But she's this sick thing. I can't handle this. I can't handle this. It makes me mad to look at her now.

Nicoleta's (Mizu's) POV

Who does he think he is? I stalk towards a run down trailer, my friend Leon's. I kick the door to signal to him it's important and wait. Hikaru catches up to me and stands beside me. Leon pulls the door open, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Leon. I need your help." I say, in English.

"Nicci? What are you doing here?" Leon asks, picking me up and spinning me around.

"Like I said! I need your help!" I laugh.

He puts me down and I introduce Hikaru.

"This is my boyfriend, Hikaru." I say, motioning to him.

"Oh, sorry man. I didn't mean to do anything to make you uncomfortable. She's just my girl. We've been together since we were little, so it's automatic." Leon says, smiling at Hikaru awkwardly.

"It's okay, I get it." He says, smiling back awkwardly.

I'm proud of him. Maybe since Leon explained himself, Hikaru was okay.

"Okay, the thing is, we need to go into hiding. Hikaru needs a disguise, to look like he fits with me. Help him. Uncle Ellis tried the other day, but you know he's just an old coot. He doesn't get what I mean. And plus, he's probably a little on edge right now, so I'm not trusting Hikaru with him. I have to go get some stuff together. Fix his hair, give him an outfit, and maybe an extra. Give him whatever else he needs, okay? I'll be around the teepee when you're done, Hikaru." I say, stepping down off the small deck.

"Got it." They say in unison.

I laugh at them and go back towards the teepees. I talk to Uncle Ellis to see if I can take his new VW Kombi van instead of my car. He quickly agrees and gives me the keys. I get everything out of my car, and then give him the keys. I pull on mama's black lace up boots. Then I load up the van with my CDs and the random junk from my arm rest and glove box. I load up a bunch of blankets and cushions, our backpacks, and some other various junk. By the time it's loaded up, Leon walks up with Hikaru. I hardly recognize him. He looks completely different. His hair was dyed with henna, in an uneven cut. He has on brown knee pants, a white linen shirt, and brown work boots. He's also wearing a few rope bracelets, a beaded necklace, and a cord with a crucifix on it around his neck. His skin looks darker, muddy. Finally, his eyes. Instead of their usual color, they are dark brown, almost black.

"You look great." I say, pulling my flat brim hat on hard and opening the driver side door.

"Wait Nicci. I have a pair of contacts for you too. Those eyes of yours would give you away in a second." Leon says, handing me a tiny contact case.

I quickly take it and put them in using the side view mirror. The contacts are the same as Hikaru's, dark. He and I climb in the van and wave goodbye to Leon. We probably won't be back.

**Gypsy adventures. This is gonna be good.**


End file.
